UK Ship Register | MCA Coding

BRITISH REGISTRATION & TONNAGE SURVEYS

There are many advantages to having your boat registered on the British registry of shipping, often it’s advantageous or desirable for non-UK citizens to want to register their yachts in the UK. At Red Rose Marine Ltd we have service that we offer to both UK Citizens and non-UK owners wanting to register on Part 1 of the British registry.

What is the British Registry of Shipping

The UK Ship Register (UKSR) – part of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) – is one of the best performing flags in the major Port State Control regimes. It has a reputation for maintaining the highest international standards and is instantly recognisable worldwide allowing your yacht to be able to fly the prestigious British red ensign.

Who Can Register

Owners who want to register their vessels on UKSR must be qualified by meeting one or more of the following:

UK/British citizen

British dependant territories citizen

British overseas citizen

Company incorporated in one of the European Economic Area (EEA) countries

Citizen of a EU member state who is exercising their EU right, or is employed by a UK company and living in the UK.

Company incorporated in any British overseas possession which has its principal place of business in the UK or those possessions

If none of the qualified owners are UK resident then a representative must be appointed who is either;

an individual who is ordinarily resident in the UK

a company incorporated in the UK with its principal place of business in the UK.

Red Rose Marine UK Registration Package

We have put together a comprehensive package of services to clients wanting to register their yacht on the British Registry of Shipping, we include the following:

Registration consultation with the owner to ensure Part 1 is correct for you and to explain what is required

Tonnage Survey: we visit the boat anywhere, to do this one day survey and then organise the Tonnage Certificate

Forms and Certificates: we prepare all the documents for you, collect all the relevant certificates and get everything off to the registry. We know very well the system and procedures, so everything will go smoothly

Application for UK Radio License, Call Sign and MMSI number

We handle commercial or private yachts (Note: MCA coding is required for commercial yachts. See our section for more info)

For owners that are not eligilble in UK we could evaluate to offer a Representative Service for the purpose of the registry

MCA CODING & MLC COMPLIANCE

MCA Coding, as it is known, basically means bringing your yacht into compliance with the MCA code of practice for small commercial vessels (under 24m load line length) it’s the way that the British government have chosen to impose certain safety standards on British registered yachts that are engaged in commercial activity. If you want to charter your yacht or become commercially registered on the British registry you must be MCA coded. Of course this MCA standard is recognised worldwide so becoming coded is open to any yacht of any flag and is often done by private owners looking for guidance on safety standards aboard.

What does MCA coding involve

The coding process can seem to be a long drawn out complicated process for the uninitiated, the “code” is a huge document and not the best bedtime read you’ve ever had. Getting your yacht up to scratch often involves modifications and will definitely involve new safety gear or having the stuff you have serviced. Once the boat is up to spec you need to get an MCA surveyor to come and survey the boat, he will then tell you if there is anything else you need to do and will then come back once its all done and check on your modifications before sending the forms off to the MCA.

How Can we help

We have been coding vessels of all sizes up to 25m for many years and have a extensive knowledge of the MCA code and can interpret it quickly and easily to help get your boat a certificate. We have a package of MCA prep that gets everything ready for you and the surveyors visit, we know the surveyor well and we can get through the boat quickly, our clients never have the expense of a re-survey so we guarantee a swift conclusion to your certification journey, here is what our package includes:

We will consult with you in the lead up to the start of the Coding process to ascertain what your boat might need, your areas of operation, crew and guest numbers.

We will make in initial one day visit to the boat to go through all the equipment and check the machinery etc. At the end of this visit we will know exactly what is needed.

After this visit we will prepare a document of recommendations for works and equipment needed, you can than eithervget the work done yourself or we can manage the work for you, we will quote for this at the time. We will also quote for any equipment you need to buy.

Once you have confirmed the work/equipment order and it’s all been delivered and completed, we will return to the boat and get everything ready for the survey and inspection.

MLC INSPECTION

For the last couple of years UK coded vessels operating commercially or employing paid crew have been required to comply with the Maritime Labour Convention. This was initially for large ships but has now worked its way down to all sizes of vessel. It’s basically health and safety for British vessels on international voyages so when they are away from the UK and outside the scope of the UK’s domestic health and safety laws. It can be a time consuming process to prepare all the documents ready for this so we have pinned MLC management onto our MCA package

PRE- PURCHASE SURVEYS

Pre-Purchase and Full Condition Surveys are a pre-requisite to the outright purchase of a pre-owned ship, vessel or boat. Pinpointing previous repairs, construction faults, lack of maintenance among others. Your surveyor can save you from sleepless nights and unpleasant nightmares …… not to mention hard-earned money. We offer a Professional Consultancy Service and we carry out Surveys on all types of materials to the IIMS code of practice.

Stay with us

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.